Hip Hop News

LeBron James recently twisted his ankle and now, he will have to miss “several weeks” with the injury. This is awful news for the Los Angeles Lakers who are currently battling for a top spot in the Western Conference standings. With Anthony Davis and LeBron James out of the lineup, there are plenty of other teams who stand to benefit, including the Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, and Los Angeles Clippers.

While speaking on ESPN’s First Take today, Stephen A. Smith had some strong words about LeBron’s injury and how some of the other teams in the league should be reacting. In fact, Smith issued a challenge to the likes of Kawhi Leonard, saying that the star should be looking to guide the Clippers to a deep playoff run.

“You demanded that the Los Angeles Clippers pay the farm, mortgage the farm and everything else in between just so you could get Paul George,” Smith said. “This is not about his numbers. This is about willingness to lead, to galvanize, to maximize the potential surrounding you so that you can take this organization to heights it has never seen before.”

Leonard and the Clippers had a disappointing end to their season all the way back in 2020 and moving forward, they’re going to want to prove that their superteam is worthy of attention. If Kawhi accepts Smith’s challenge, we could be seeing a motivated Clippers squad to end out the year.

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Summer Walker and London On Da Track are expecting their first child together, and it seems like their daughter will be arriving shortly. Earlier this week, the two posed for some ruby red pregnancy photos together and announced that they would be having a girl, sweetly referring to her as “Princess Bubblegum.” It looks like the two are really starting to prepare for the arrival of their baby girl, as they’ve already created an Instagram account for her under the username @1princessbubblegum. 

There’s only one post up on the account so far, and it’s of a black loading bar, seemingly indicating that the couple are coming to the end of Summer’s pregnancy and the baby should be here soon. People were quick to point out that the username and the pink profile photo were likely a reference to the TV show Adventure Time, where there is a character named Princess Bubblegum. Many hoped, however, that they were not planning on naming their daughter Bubblegum. 

“i know you ain’t name that baby PRINCESS BUBBLEGUM… i know it for a fact,” one commenter said on the post. “Her name probably is bubblegum knowing how celebrities name their child anything,” said another. Some speculated that there’s no way Summer would name her daughter Bubblegum, writing, “Y’all do know princess bubblegum is from adventure time I don’t think they actually named that baby that it’s probably a nickname.”

We’ll likely get more news about the baby’s name once she arrives. Congrats Summer and London!

When it comes to legendary hip-hop figures, Texas-born and L.A-based rapper The D.O.C. has always been among the most underrated. Having been a frequent collaborator of Dr. Dre’s in the late eighties and early nineties — Dre actually produced all thirteen songs on The D.O.C’s 1989 classic No One Can Do It Better — the D.O.C’s hip-hop journey was brought to a devastating end following a debilitating car-crash that left his voice forever altered. 

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Though his brilliant lyricism would endure on Dre’s debut The Chronic, the accident and subsequent surgeries all but derailed The D.O.C’s trajectory as a solo artist. In 2003, the rapper emerged with Deuce, a 6-Two collaboration album that featured heavy Dr. Dre involvement. Since then, it’s been relatively quiet for the legendary emcee, who Nelly previously called “hip-hop’s biggest what-if”  — though it would appear that’s likely to change, as per his frequent collaborator Erotic D.

During an appearance on the Conversations With Chad podcast, Erotic D confirmed that he and The D.O.C. were indeed working on a new album. “We’ve been kicking around certain titles,” he teases. “We are working. We’ve also been shooting a documentary on Doc’s life. It’s been the same production company that shot the Michael Jordan documentary, The Last Dance. They were actually winning their Emmy award while they were shooting Doc’s documentary. I tell some pretty cool stories in that. It’s a real documentary where Doc invited everyone to speak openly about him — and it’s not all good.” 

We look forward to hearing further details about the upcoming documentary, as it sounds like a genuine treat for hip-hop historians. Check out the full conversation with Erotic D below, with documentary talk taking place in the closing moments. 

This week, actor Kaalan Walker decided to air out some alleged dirty laundry he had with Kehlani on his public Instagram story. “Of course my heart is broke from how you handled the situation with our child Kehlani… I wish you would have told me the truth instead of lying to me and aborting our child without me knowing.” These are some pretty heavy and serious accusations, but Kehlani took to Twitter in a series of now-deleted tweets where she blasted Kaalan as a liar. 

“People are very aware of my following, and the eyes on me,” she reportedly wrote. “over the years i’ve watched people make up so many things to get a reaction out of me, to get eyes on them. i’m not making a single lie, or obsessed liar poppin.” She continued in another tweet, “people BEG me to speak on lies made up on me. people will call my phone and say aren’t you going to say something. truths might make me wanna have a back and fourth. blatant lies? have fun in your fantasy land it’s nothing i could say to control your crazy. it’s above me.”

While her tweets didn’t mention Kaalan personally, she took to the comments on an Instagram post that had screenshot her tweets, to discuss his sexual assault allegations, as she allegedly knows his victims. “I know his victims personally. i was asked personally and privately to back them up because multiple large platformed people/celebrities had literally left them on READ. if speaking up for abused women makes me ‘getting in someone’s business’ if it makes me ‘messy’ then i’ll absolutely be that.” Kehlani goes on to say that she doesn’t get any “clout” for inserting herself into such a traumatic situation, as she has also been a victim in the past. 

Kehlani currently has one daughter, baby Adeya, who is 2 years old. Check out Kaalan’s original accusations and Kehlani’s response below. 

Kehlani / Instagram

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It’s no secret that Post Malone has experienced massive success operating in a hip-hop adjacent realm. Yet many of his fans recognize that his influences extend far beyond said realm, stretching deep into genres like rock and country. Though his eclectic tastes have led to a few unflattering accusations, it has also yielded positive effects for the melodist, who often surprises listeners with his versatility. 

Robert Kamau/GC Images/Getty Images 

Over the weekend, Posty was part of a large lineup of Texas artists who held it down for Matthew McConaghey’s WE’RE TEXAS: GIDDY UP TO GIVE BACK fundraiser, an event focused on “providing safety and critical resources to those affected by the devastating winter storms,” as per the official YouTube description. Given the focal point of the event, Post opted to shy away from some of his more hip-hop-inspired sounds, instead embracing his country roots with a pair of classic covers.

Following a video message from the legendary Stone Cold Steve Austin, Post Malone closed out the show with a laid-back take on Brad Paisley’s 2002 jam “I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song)”, followed by Sturgill Simpson’s “You Can Have The Crown.” While it might not be the Posty you know and love, it’s still nice to see him embracing the spirit of the event, representing his childhood home of Texas with guitar in hand. Check out the two-song set from Post Malone at the 02:04:15 mark, and show some love to his versatility in the comments below.